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The Prince sputtered behind me and came forward. “Explain yourself, Princess.”
She turned her frosty eyes to him and smiled. “How would you like a human girl all to yourself?”
“I…” He considered this. “Humans are a lot of work, and then they die. I have never seen the value in keeping pets. My only interest has been you; however, now I am not so certain. It seems you have been keeping unsavory secrets.” He eyed McKale with disdain.
“I have wanted to do this for a long time,” she whispered.
The Prince cocked his pretty, bronzed head to the side. “Do what?”
“Alter your memory.”
His face paled at the sly grin on the FFG’s face, and he took a step back.
“You ca
“He will never know.”
She stepped toward him and he stepped back. McKale and I moved to stand together. I was sickened by the entire spectacle taking place. I grabbed McKale’s hand.
The Prince put up his hands and shook his head, a frightful expression contorting his immaculate face.
“Ar oscailt inti
He dropped his hands and relaxed, captured by her eyes. She whispered everything that he would forget, and what he would remember in its place. His feelings for her had changed and would now only be those of friendly admiration. We’d never stopped in this tu
I let go of McKale’s hand and wrapped my arms around myself, chilled to my heart.
When the FFG said the closing words she spun and continued down the hall as if we’d never stopped. I was trembling uncontrollably. I glanced back at the Prince who was blinking, his face scrunched with mild confusion. The four of us followed down the twists and turns of living tu
“A pleasure to see you, Princess.”
“Open the portal,” she commanded.
He obeyed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
WE PUSHED THROUGH THE thickened atmosphere between realms into the warmth of Chaun land. The light blue sky and sunshine seemed pale in comparison to Faerie’s atmosphere. The green plants appeared duller and the scents too faint. I experienced a fleeting moment of longing for the beauty we’d left behind. Next to me, McKale shook out his arms and cracked his neck. Khalistah moved through the tall grass toward the clearing and the Prince gave McKale and I small shoves from behind.
A heightened sense of anticipation rose up from the crowd as we approached. The musicians didn’t dare to stop playing, even as the dancers stilled, all heads pointed in our direction. Brogan and my parents stood beside the Fae King and his people. Cassidy jumped up from a nearby table and bypassed Khalistah to run toward me. I gave my head a frantic shake, but she didn’t notice. She flung her arms around me just as I heard the Fae Prince whisper behind us, “Glory be. Is this Cassidy Mason?”
Surprised, Cass pulled away from me and looked at him. I tried to catch her eye. I wanted her to run like hell, but she was riveted by this bronzed article of perfection who knew her name, giving her a stare worthy of a Princess.
I tilted my head away from him and hissed at her between my teeth, “Get out of here!”
She spared a short, confused glance at me before taking a step back. Her movement was stopped when she met the Prince’s golden eyes again. There was no passion in his glazed expression, only a robotic sort of fascination. He held out a beckoning hand to Cass.
I grasped her elbow.
“Pardon us a moment, er, Prince,” I said.
“Prince?” Cassidy murmured as I pulled her a few feet away.
“He’s been brainwashed by the FFG to take you back to Faerie!” I whispered.
I’d never been more relieved than I was in that moment when Cass’s curiosity turned to mortal fear. Her ta
I cleared my throat and whispered to the Prince, “She’s really high-maintenance for a human.” I left him standing there, dazed.
Khalistah and McKale were just making their way to the King’s presence where the Princess curtsied low and McKale gave a respectful bow of his head. I lifted the hem of my gown and rushed forward to be at McKale’s side.
Mom and Dad formed steely towers around a cowering Cass who’d linked her arm inside Dad’s. The three of them watched me for some sign that everything had gone as pla
I was not relieved in the slightest. I clutched the chain around my neck and closed my eyes.
Please work.
“Father, King.” Khalistah’s musical voice rang out.
“I see you decided to join us after all,” he said. His fingers were linked in front of himself, at ease.
The FFG held her head high. “I have not come to join the festivities, Father. The Leprechaun are holding my pixie captive. I have come to retrieve Paulie from his iron prison.”
Nobody in the entire clearing breathed as we waited for the King’s response. He stared at her for a long while before tipping his head toward Brogan with a frown.
The leader of the Chaun bowed low, his beard sweeping the ground. “My apologies, King of the Summer. We intended to release him to ye this day. I assure ye no iron is touching the creature. His cage is lined with a pelt. ‘Twas the oddest thing, it was. Last evenin’ the pixie attacked our dear Robyn and we had to put a stop to it. We meant no harm to the Princess’s pet.”
In a slow movement the King nodded his head then chuckled. Khalistah’s eyes grew wide. Near the forest and all around the field, brown and gray bu
“Ah, dearest daughter. That pixie of yours has ever been a pesky thing. I ca
Her tiny lips pursed. Brogan cleared his throat and waved a hand at Keefe.
“Release the pixie,” Brogan told him then addressed the King. “He has not been harmed or tortured, King of the Summer. I swear it.”
“Fine, fine.” The King waved off Brogan’s assurances as if bored. “I have wished to cage the scoundrel myself more than a few times.”
He chuckled again, and all the Fae except Khalistah joined his merriment. Colorful songbirds swooped through the sky overhead.
Seconds later Pauli flew in a slow, depressing buzz, landing on the FFG’s shoulder and nuzzling her neck. He lifted his face long enough to send me a vicious show of teeth.
“There, there,” she said to it with no warmth in her voice.
With the pixie returned and the King seeming unfazed, Brogan motioned for his people to continue their dancing and get back to celebrating.
Khalistah stared at me so long it was beyond creepy. I could all but hear the crank in her mind deciding what to do next. Her attention finally turned to the Prince, who was pondering Cassidy from afar as if bewildered by his interest in such an ordinary creature. She clung to Dad’s arm, practically hiding behind him. I wanted to scream at her to run as fast and far as she could.
“See something you like, Prince?” Khalistah asked him.
His eyes slid from the Princess, back to Cassidy. The FFG’s lips turned up in a vile expression of happiness.
“I believe I do,” he answered. “The sister…”
The King and other Fae noted the Prince’s interest and I swallowed hard. McKale cleared his throat next to me as the Prince began to make his way slowly to Cassidy. She moved further behind Dad and his jaw set in a frown at the bronzed Fae. Khalistah gave a wickedly happy laugh.